Grand Challenge First-Year Seminar: Equity and the Environment: Exploring Global Challenges and Local Solutions

Course Number: 66-151

How does air quality in one city differ from air quality in another? Do citizens have a right to clean air, regardless of where they live? How does global climate change impact the discussion of environmental and human health? The answer to these and other questions about environmental quality are complex and manifest at global and local levels. Access to environmental “justice,” that is, the right to a healthy environment, is linked to social factors like race, ethnicity, indigenous identity, income, educational status, and geographic location, among others.

By analyzing the case of Pittsburgh, students will trace past environmental issues and define current environmental concerns that may manifest both locally and globally. They will use environmental justice as a framework to examine how environmental issues are defined and how policies are created and enacted when different voices are included. Students will explore these topics as they relate to multiple sectors (e.g., air and water quality, agriculture, transportation) and environmental impacts like human physical and mental health. Students will also be introduced to concepts like “sustainable science” and “sustainable humanities,” and study how environmental problems and solutions are framed in different cultures, communities, and academic disciplines ranging from science to social science and art.

We will highlight guest speakers from various disciplines within the Pittsburgh sustainability community and go on a short field trip. Along this journey, students will work individually and in teams to engage in creative writing and reflection about the environment, as well as conduct a personal carbon inventory. As the final project, students will collaborate to develop a proposal that addresses a selected environmental issue of their choice. Students will be encouraged to ground research and coursework in their own cultures, communities, and experiences.

Academic Year: 2025-2026
Semester(s): Fall